For those of you who hire software developers – How do you evaluate a software developer’s ability to create the software you are hiring or contracting them to create?

I applaud you. You (and Craig L) do more than most of the companies at which I have interviewed. I asked this question obviously because of my business. Unfortunately there is a growing trend in my industry to pad (if not outright lie on) resumes. When I was doing research for my business I was surprised at the number of sites dedicated to teaching people the “art” of stretching the truth (e.g. http://www.fakeresume.com/).  Anyway, the items I listed were the only ones I had experienced in actual interviews. I also left off “Require the applicant to write a program and defend their solution” which is what most software companies do.